Born In Blood
by HGF34567
Summary: What happened when Mindy first met her dad? What happened when they first started being father and daughter? What was her training like? Find out in Born In Blood, a story about Mindy and her dad that goes from when they first met to the start of Kick-Ass (1). Rated T for violence, language, etc (its Kick-Ass...) Rating may change later.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue- Consequences

_Every action has its consequence, whether it be good or bad. Eventually, I guess we all learn that, but I guess some of us forget it; like daddy, I guess he forgot about that too. _

_It seemed like just one big game though, like we were playing superhero. Except we weren't playing; we were real superheroes, I guess I still am one, it's just dad that's not anymore... The point is, I guess neither of us thought that we'd ever...die. Well, I'm not dead, it's just daddy who is…_

Mindy Macready stared at the wall of weaponry before her as thoughts buzzed violently in her head like millions of angry hornets whose nest has just been destroyed. Her face remained blank, but her vibrant, teary green eyes said it all. All she could think about was her dad; Mindy felt like she could have done something more to save him, like she could have stopped his death, had she arrived a second earlier, or made sure no one touched that lighter. She was so filled with guilt, doubt, and even regret. More and more doubtful, worried questions were piling up inside of her like lies; once you tell (/ask) one, there's sure to be many, many more.

Big Daddy had been dead for an entire week now, but grief was just beginning to hit her. It was a strange feeling, new to her, and she didn't like it. Nothing Marcus or Dave said could make it any better; there was no denying the strong waves of depression and lonliness coming on.

Thinking about their time together made it feel better, somehow, like he was still alive, at least in her memories. They played like a movie every time she closed her eyes; she saw them sparring together, shooting targets, drinking hot cocoa, just being _together. _Those memories made her smile. It wasn't always perfect, though. When they first started living together, as father and daughter, it wasn't so perfect. Those memories were so...so...different. Still, remembering made her number, and lessened the pain. It was hard to remember every single moment together, but she could at least try…

_(A/N: I know it was short, but it was only the prologue, and there is so much more to come. As you can tell, the story is the time between when Mindy first met her dad and Kick-Ass [the first movie]. I decided to start it here, as some of Mindy's memories, because I wanted to have a backbone behind the whole thing, kind of a reason for telling her memories [not that I really needed one, but still]. Anyway, I will post chapters as often as I can, but it will be very often. Thanks for reading. See you next chapter!)_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Meeting

(Mindy's POV)

I zip my suitcase shut and sigh. "What if he doesn't want me?" I ask Marcus, who is pulling my long blonde hair back into a ponytail. He laughs a little. "Don't be silly, Min. Of course your dad will want you. I'm sure he loves you already." He replies. I sigh again. "I guess…" I trail off. Marcus whirls me around and gives me a hug. "Trust me, you're daddy is going to love you so much, and, silly girl, you don't need your suitcase." He says, taking my suitcase from me. "Why not?" I ask. He laughs." I already told you, you and your daddy will be staying here, Min. At least until daddy can support you on his own." He says. "Alright." I say. Today I am going to meet my daddy for the first time. Marcus said that before I was born, some bad men did things to make the police throw daddy in jail. Why would anyone do that? I don't understand bad people. Why would they just...hurt someone like that? Luckily, Marcus is a good cop. He wouldn't put innocent people in jail for no reason. At least there's some good people in the world.

We both pull away from the hug at the same time. I guess it's that time, the time when I go meet my daddy for the first time. Even though Marcus has told me so much about him, I still feel like I'm going to meet a complete stranger. He kind of IS a complete stranger, at least to me. Still, he's my daddy.

Marcus stands up and smiles down at me. "Ready to go?" He asks , I say, "Yeah," and drop my suitcase. Taking a look at my pretty, frilly pink room in Marcus's house, where I guess I'll live still, I shut the door behind me, not really ready to leave and go meet daddy. Marcus tugs on my arm a little and turns me to face him. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" He asks, again. I sigh. "I'm sure!" I reply, a bit annoyed. Why doesn't anyone think I'm ready for this? Marcus told me that he got a letter from my daddy saying that if I wasn't ready to meet him, I didn't have to, he didn't think I was ready, either. They don't know that this is the most ready I've ever been in my life. They don't know that I've been waiting so long for this, even if I am really nervous and a little scared about this. I'm defenitley ready.

Soon I find us hopping down the stairs and out the front door, getting in Marcus's car and buckling up to go to a place where I get to meet my one and only parent. About that, Marcus said I had a mommy once, but she went to a place where she could never get hurt again. I'm glad mommy went to that place, but I wish I could know how she got there, so me, Marcus, and my daddy could all live there with her so no more bad men could hurt daddy, or any of us, again. When I said that I wanted to go there, Marcus just told me that I had to pay a big price to get there, one that I can't pay for yet. Well, maybe one day I'll have enough money to go there.

We drive down long, windy, twisted highways and bumpy roads. Since it's taking a long time to get there, I rest my head on the window and try to nap a little before we get to daddy. It's hard to sleep because the car keep bumping and making my head bang against it, but eventually, I do find myself dozing off…

_Red. So much red, all I can see is that color. _

_Its everywhere, I'm covered in it. There's an ugly smell in the air that hurts my nose. Its sharp, like cleaning supplies, but there's nothing clean about this place. What place am I talking about? All I can see is black. There's loud bangs, not like a 'bang' sound but a 'BANG' sound. So loud...hurting my ears. More bangs...crashing…shouting...so hard to hear. Red. There's more red. RED everywhere. Pain. It starts in my chest and spreads down my body. OH, it hurts so much… More bangs again. Make them stop! Another quick burst of pain. I scream. MAKE...IT...STOP… what is this? Another bang...pain...darkness._

I wake up with a scream. Marcus looks behind him, slamming on the breaks. "Mindy! Christ, are you OK?" he asks, worried. I look myself up and down, checking for red. Theres no red, and I can't feel the pain anymore. What was that anyway? "I'm..I'm fine. Just a bad dream." I say. Marcus sighs with relief. "Thank God, Mindy. You scared me to death! Anyway, come on, we're here." He says. His words barely make it to me. All I can think about is that dream. As we're walking along, it replays in my mind, all the fear, the pain, the blood...it was so scary! Why did I even had that dream? Its just...so weird. I've never had that bad dream before, and I don't even know what the dream has to do with ANYTHING I've ever been scared of. Once, when I had a really bad dream, Marcus told me that bad dreams are just our real fears, but worse, sent into our dreams to haunt us. I don't really understand what he said, but...it kind of made sense. Well, no...But...I just don't get it. Why THAT dream? It doesn't make sense to me.

"Are you feeling alright, Min?" Marcus asks, interrupting my thoughts. I shove my fears and confusion down, hiding them, the way I've seen people sweep dust under a rug so no one can see it, and answer, "Yeah. I'm fine…". Marcus gives me another strange look. "Mindy, your dad will understand if you wanna go home and…" He starts to say. "I said I'm fine! I wanna do this!" I exclaim. He looks at me with a shocked expression. "Don't mouth off at me Min. I was just asking." He says. I nod. "You're right. I'm sorry." I reply. I hate how this stupid dream is ruining my day. I just wanna let myself enjoy meeting my daddy…

Soon enough, we get to a place that Marcus tells me is called the holding cell. "That's where they've been holding your daddy, waiting for us." He tells me. I nod. The dream is still in my head, fresh as ever. I can feel it there still, hiding in my mind like animals hiding from a dangerous hunter. I just want it to go away… Marcus has to pull me out of my thoughts AGAIN. If I keep thinking about this dream all day, he might have to pull me out of those homes where they lock up the crazy people. That's for sure, if I don't push this dumb dream out of my memories. Marcus holds my hand and looks down at me. "Ready to meet your dad?" He asks. "Y-yeah." I say, nodding, only a little unsure about this. _Ok, Ok, don't be scared, don't be worried, don't think about the dream. You finally get to meet your daddy, don't mess it up by chickening out… _

Someone walks out of the holding cell and kneels down before me. His blond hair is a couple of shades darker than mine. He wears glasses that look perfect on his face. His eyes are brown-ish-green, kind of like mine, but kind of not.

The eyes of my daddy.

I look up into them and smile. This is my daddy, this nice, comforting looking person before me. Why did I ever think that this would go wrong? I can't believe how...right this feels. It just feels like magic, the way I know how happy I'm going to be with my daddy now. Knowing that Marcus is my daddy's best friend while being my...guardian (? I think that's the word he used…) makes it feel like we're gonna be a perfect family. It's gonna be so much fun.I can't tell you how this feels, I know that everything's gonna be perfect. I'm so happy.

"So this is Mindy." He says with a smile.

Marcus is smiling, too. We're all just so happy, we all feel so good right now. Everything's gonna be so great. "Yup." I say. "I'm Mindy, and you're my daddy, right?" I say. He laughs quietly. "Yes." He brings himself up to his feet and puts a hand on Marcus's shoulder. "Thank you, for taking care of her." he says. Marcus just laughs. "It was no problem, really."

On the way home, all we can seem to talk about is me. What I like, what I'm actually like, what I like to do, everything about ME. It's so fun having my daddy get to know me, and it even more fun getting to know him. Daddy told me all about mommy (even though Marcus told him not to when I asked) and said that it's OK that she's not with us anymore, because we're gonna do something big to help out mommy, even though she's not here, in someplace called 'heaven.' Marcus said to please stop talking about mommy, and daddy did. We started talking about daddy again after that. I learned so much about him. I learned the WHOLE story of why daddy was in jail (Marcus never told me THAT much). We had to stop talking about it, though. Something about "Mindy being too young, Mindy is only five, she's a little girl, she doesn't need to know…"

Eventually, after what felt like a long, silent car ride (once we weren't allowed to talk about my daddy's past anymore), we finally pull up to Marcus's house. Marcus's house is pretty big, with two floors, three bedrooms (one that we don't use) and a nice backyard. My daddy looks at the house, scanning it from top to bottom. "It's nice, Marcus. I don't remember you having this house back when you had just started out in the force." My daddy says, making Marcus chuckle. "Yeah, guess I've gone a long way since then. What was it, six, seven years ago? It was before...the incident. Before little Min was born." He replies, ruffling my hair when he says, "little Min". I smile. I love it when he calls me that. It makes me feel so special.

"So Damon, I assume you know that you'll be staying here until you get back on your feet, right?" Marcus asks. I didn't know that at ALL, at first, I thought my daddy and I would get our own house with a big backyard, and Marcus would visit everyday and...not that I have any problem with staying here. I just….thought it would be different at first. My daddy nods. "Yes, of course, Mindy and I couldn't be living in that old house even if it _was _still being paid for. Too many memories…" He says. Marcus is quiet for a minute. "Mindy, why don't you go up to your room and unpack that suitcase of yours that you didn't need, silly girl." He finally says to me. "Okay." I say. Marcus unlocks the front door for me and watches as I hop up the stairs to my room, my pretty pink room where I'll live still. I watch daddy and Marcus come inside the house, too. I can hear voices from downstairs (Marcus always says the walls are very thin so he can always hear me no matter where I am) and I stop moving around so I can make out what they are saying. Still, I can't hear anything.

I creep out of my room and hide at the top of the stairs. No one will be able to see me from up here. The house has so many places for me to hide, Marcus sometimes can't find me. I'm really quiet, too, which makes it even harder. I laugh a little. This is so sneaky. Well, it's not like I'm being bad. They never told me not to listen to them. Then again, why would they send me away…? Should I be listening? I start to feel bad about it. It's probably adult talk! What if I hear something bad?

Just as I start to creep back to my room, the voices get a little louder.

"_Marcus, I know that she's gone, but we have to do something to avenge her." _

What? What does that even mean? Who's gone?

"_I just don't want Min to get involved. Besides, it's gonna be pretty hard to arrest D'amico when he's got Gigante kissing his ass, doing whatever he says to make sure he doesn't get caught in the act."_

Did Marcus just SWEAR? What the-?

"_She won't be involved. And the word is, it's not only Gigante doing the dirty work anymore. The D'amico operation is growing rapidly, Marcus. We've got to put a stop to them before it gets any worse. One of his goons had shared a cell with me. Apparently D'amico screwed him over or something. I had gotten inside information on the promise to stop D'amico, and his whole damned operation along with it."_

"_What about that son of his, Damon? He's only a kid, he can't be involved. What if you DO stop D'amico? What'll become of that poor little kid? Doesn't even know what his daddy's up to, does he?"_

I stop listening. I just can't hear this anymore. There was swearing! An-and, I didn't even know what half of that stuff meant! I just couldn't take it. I don't even want to know what that was. I'm just going to pretend I never, ever, EVER heard that.

I slink back to my room and flop down on my bed, letting out a big sigh. Soon after, I think I fall asleep…

_At the D'amico Penthouse…_

Frank D'amico sighed and put the notepad down, looking at all the names he had so carelessly crossed off on the list, that list. The list of people he had to take down. Most of the names had been successfully crossed out and the person had been, 'dealt with.' Frank chuckled. Only God knew what he meant by that.

It wasn't easy, taking down these foes. Some had been too peristent on living, like that God damned fly that buzzes around you're face in the summer, now matter how many times you sprayed that thing or swatted something at it. But all insects die eventually. His victorious smile faded. One name remained on that list, written in bold and underlined at least five times.

_**MACREADY**_

Word was, that one had gotten out of jail today. Frank scowled. Fucker, he thought, God damned cocksucker. _Should'a killed that one when I got the chance, declining an opportunity to be in MY operation, then trying to burn it down. He was going to DIE. _He sighed again. All in good time. First, he had to get to the top. He could burn this fucker down later. For now, he had bigger fish to fry.

Except this was his bigger fish. With Macready out on the streets again, things could get bad. Frank breathed in and out heavily. Who knew what Macready was up to now? Jail could do a lot to a motherfucker, Frank learned that the hard way. After that, he swore he'd never get caught again, and he wasn't gonna let that happen.

He sighed yet again. It was time to devise a plan. First, get the operation together. Second, get Macready. It was still one of his top priorities.

Macready was going to pay, and pay bad.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-Out for a run

(Mindy's POV)

"Tell me a bedtime story." I beg daddy, who is tucking me in my poofy pink bed, pulling the covers up over me. He laughs. "I don't really know any." He says. I think for a minute. "Why don't you make one up?" I ask, trying to help. He sighs. "Alright, I'll try...let's see…." He stops a minute to think.

It's been a few hours since what I heard downstairs between daddy and Marcus. I'm just going to try and forget the whole thing. I knew I shouldn't have been listening in the first place, why didn't I just listen (to myself) and walk away? I feel dumb and sneaky, also like a liar. I had told daddy and Marcus I'd been resting the whole time, but I LIED about it! I don't remember lying to Marcus before,and I really don't like that I did it today. It feels so wrong...I don't want to be a bad person like the people that daddy arrested. Bad people lie, don't they? I shouldn't have lied. I'm going to feel like this forever!

"Mindy? Are you OK? You spaced out a little…" Daddy says. I look up at him. "Y-yeah. I'm okay. I'm just...really, really tired!" I reply with a big (fake) yawn. Daddy smiles at me. "If you're that tired, I think I'll just let you rest, alright? Although, you did seem a little...excited about your bedtime story…" he says, stopping his sentence when I force another fake yawn. I feel bad again. I keep pushing daddy away when he's trying to spend time with me, but...I feel worse letting him be so nice when I LIED to him! Daddy wouldn't like me if he knew I was a liar, he wouldn't, would he?

"Daddy?" I ask. He fluffs up my pillows again. "Yes honey?" He replies. I stumble a little on my words. "Would...would you l-like me...if I was a...a bad person?" I ask. He smiles a little. "Now why would you ask that? You're not planning on becoming a bad person, are you Mindy?" Daddy jokes. I frown a little. "I'm not joking daddy! Would you still like me?" I raise my voice a little. Daddy sighs. "Mindy, honey. I know you don't know me well, and that's okay, but you should know that I'm your daddy, and I'm going to like you no matter what, okay? I promise Mindy, I'll stand by you no matter what you do." He says. I reach up and hug him. "Thanks daddy. I love you." I say. I guess I just loved my daddy from the moment I met him. I knew he was a good person, and good people mean so much to me. "I'll never be bad daddy, anyways. I'm gonna stop all the bad guys!" I say to daddy. He smiles at me. "I know you will, honey. And I love you too." He says, kissing me on the forehead and turning off the light by me. "Sleep tight sweetheart."

"Rise and shine, Min!" Marcus yells through my door. I rub sleep from my eyes, yawning. "I'm leaving for work, come say goodbye!" He says. I slowly sit up, push the covers away from me, and finding my feet, stand up and walk over to the door. I pull open the door and look up at Marcus. "You couldn't have walked in and said goodbye?" I say, teasing Marcus. He laughs. "Not this time, lazy pants. You gotta start gettin' used to getting up early. School starts pretty soon, you know that, right?"

Of course I knew school was starting soon! I couldn't wait for school! I would get to go and learn a lot, meet so many friends...it just seems so fun! "Yeah! I can't wait!" I say. Marcus smiles. "I bet you can't. Now give me a hug, silly girl. I gotta go." He laughs as I fall into his arms. "Bye Marcus!" I say. I guess now that daddy's here and Marcus is gone, I get to spend time with him! It's gonna be so cool! Maybe we can go out for ice cream, or...something fun like that. I can't, can't wait!

"Bye Min. Daddy's here, ok? He'll keep a good eye on you. I think he's making breakfast, so why don't you go downstairs and get some?" Marcus suggests. I nod. "Ok!" I agree quickly. I rush down the stairs faster than a racecar zooming down the track, speeding along. I bet daddy is making the best pancakes in the world, with fresh juice and everything, just because he loves me. Marcus says that when you love someone that much, you'd do anything for them. I know my daddy would do anything for me, especially make me a super awesome breakfast!

I run into the kitchen, letting the door swing on its hinges, and plopping down in a chair at the kitchen table. I watch daddy, who is leaning over our blender carefully mixing in special ingredients. "Morning daddy!" I exclaim. Daddy doesn't turn around as he replies, "Morning baby doll." I smile. I already love daddy's nicknames for me. "What are we eating for breakfast, daddy?" I ask. Daddy turns around, smiling at me. "It's a surprise." Of course it is. The best things in life are surprises most of the time.

Soon enough, daddy plops a plate down in front of me, a plate piled with food. I look at the plate, shocked. I don't really recognize the choices of food in front of me. "What is it?" I ask, trying to keep sounding nice. Daddy laughs a little more. "Well baby doll, this just happens to be a superfood protein shake, with special veggies and fruits and a little extra to make you strong." He says, pointing to the cup with a tan juice in it. I raise my eyebrow and take a sip. Its actually pretty good! Sure, it doesn't taste sweet or anything, but, I love it! It just has...a taste to it. Its kind of gross and all, but still… I don't know. I have no way to explain why I like it.

"Its actually pretty good!" I say, making a promise to myself to be honest about everything from now on, especially with what happened with the lying 'accident' earlier. I won't lie. Marcus says its good to tell the truth, that way people will trust you all the time. I want to be trustworthy, so of course I'm gonna tell the truth!

"Is that all we're having?" I ask. Daddy shakes his head. "The plate's right in front of you, honey." He says, pointing towards the plate piled with something that looks like meat. I slowly pick up my fork and plunge it into the meat-stuff-thing. I pull out a good sized piece of it and plop it into my mouth.

I chew slowly, chewing each bite carefully, getting all the flavors together. It has a rich, flavored taste, but a chewiness to it that I have to wash down with my 'superfood' shake. It's like I have to swallow each bite a few times before it goes down, but still, it has a nice flavor to it. Kind of...not really flavored….but….flavory at the same time. It's a weird meat, but a good breakfast.

"I kinda like it." I say. Daddy nods. "Well, you'll get used to it. It's...it grows on you...it's that kind of taste. You'll learn to like it." He says. "Alright." I say. Wait...get used to it? I'll be eating this a lot? Well...why? Daddy should make what I like! But… I'm not gonna tell him that. I should just be nice for now. "Well, I'm sorta full now, so I guess I'm gonna go play in my room, OK?"

Daddy shakes his head as soon as I say play. "Nuh-uh, Mindy. You're gonna finish you're breakfast before you do anything else."

I sigh. "Fine."

"What are we gonna do now, daddy?" I ask, gulping down the rest of my super foods shake.

"How about...we go for a run, just you and me?" Daddy asks. I nod. Running with daddy sounds super fun! We could exercise together every day, maybe go to the playground, maybe get some bikes, learn to ride them… there's just so much that daddy and I are gonna do together! Having my daddy here is awesome! I have daddy now, and Marcus, and we all live together in this awesome house! Soon enough, we could all do stuff together!

"Alright, go get out of your PJ's, honey-bunny. Make sure you wear something comfy enough to run in. Oh, and bring a jacket sweetie!" Daddy calls as I run up the stairs to change. "Kay!" I yell back!

I get up to my room and dress as fast as I can. Marcus NEVER does things like this with me. We hang out together a lot, play toys and have parties and all that, but we never have time to go to the park or go running or exercise. I think now that daddy's here, I'm gonna have more fun than ever with both of them here, getting to do everything I like!

Daddy and I hop into the car once I'm done changing and start heading out. I buckle up, proud of myself for being able to do it so quickly and swiftly, and exclaim, "Ready!" Daddy starts Marcus's car, which I'm sure daddy was allowed to use since Marcus either takes his police car or carpools every day with other cops.

We ride past long rows of trees and plants and flowers. Soon enough, we get to the park and hop out of the car. I smile up at daddy. "Alright Mindy. We're gonna run about...3, maybe 5 laps around the park, just to get you started. Maybe tomorrow we'll run a little more, but let's keep it short for now, at least until you're ready to really exercise. Ok?" He asks. I sigh a little. The park isn't very big, so three or five laps won't be too much to run. It will probably take us only about ten minutes. Well, at least I get to do something new for once…

Daddy and I walk over to the edge of the park, where daddy wants us to start running. He looks at me, a little bit worried, I can see it in his eyes. "You can do this, right Mindy?" He asks. I roll my eyes. "Of course! I have more energy than ever!" I exclaim. Daddy chuckles. "That's called an adrenaline rush, sweetie. How about you go and get a head start?" He asks. I nod. "Ok!" I say. I start to run across the park, around the place where the playground just ends and is protected by a little wall. My hyperness helps with the running, and I start getting pretty far when daddy tags along, too. He runs right next to me. I try and get ahead of him, but that just leaves me tired, and daddy always catches up, anyway. We barely pass one lap when I run out of breath. I gasp, breathing harder, my energy slowly leaving me. I must have been running way too fast and burned up all my energy. I was way too excited, I should have kept it slower, I guess. Daddy runs up to my side. "Are you alright, honey? I think you overdid yourself. Drink some water, and we'll try and get three laps in today, alright?" He asks, brushing my blond hair away from my sweaty, red face. I nod. I won't give up on just one lap, what would daddy think then?

I sip down what feels like gallons of water and breathe in and out quickly, catching my breath. The park isn't as small as I thought, and it's kind of too hot to be running out here anyway. I'm not too small or too young like Marcus says I am when I exercise too much. It's just...really, really, hot. I catch my breath again soon enough and meet daddy back at "the starting line". I get another head start this time, just this time I run slower, and try and keep myself from running too fast again. When this lap is over, I feel a bit better than when I ran the first one. I decide to go one more lap with daddy after that. Daddy smiles and praises me for being such a big, strong girl. I smile back and say thank you. We run another lap and meet each other back at the playground.

"Remind me to bring more water, next time." Daddy says. I nod. "Daddy, can we go again tomorrow? I wanna try five laps!" I say, breathing in and out again, tired. Daddy shrugs. "We can come tomorrow, but how about we keep it at three laps for now, at least until you can handle it well?" Daddy says. I frown.

I liked running, even though I said it was tiring and hot and sweaty. I want to keep doing this. I want daddy to keep calling me strong and grown up and tough. I liked running and I liked his compliments. I want this to keep up.

"I thought you said I was strong, and tough enough to handle anything?" I say, reminding him about what he said earlier. He nods slightly. "You're right. But...you are strong, brave, and tough, grown up, but you're just not ready for a lot right now, Mindy. Soon enough ,you won't believe what you'll have accomplished, Ok?" Daddy says. I think about it. I guess he's right. Marcus always tells me that if I keep trying and trying hard at something, I"ll get better and better. Maybe if I keep doing this, I'll get stronger and tougher. "Ok." I agree.

Daddy tells me to go play on the playground for a while, and I do. I watch from far away, watch daddy scribble and draw things in a little black notebook. I turn away. I can't read anyway, so what's the point in looking at it?

Another little girl with black pigtails comes by me. "Wanna play tag?" She says. I nod, smiling. "Sure." I say. She smiles a little bit. "Well...you're it!" She yells. I laugh. "Not for long!" I yell back. Daddy looks up at us. I look back at him as I chase the girl and wave. Daddy waves back, smiling. He goes back to scribbling after that and I keep chasing the girl. We both laugh as I tag her back and laugh. I look back at daddy again, but he's so focused on that notebook, that one , it must be important to daddy. I mean, REALLY important. That's all he seems to be focusing on right now. It doesn't matter anyway, probably more adult stuff I don't want to get involved with.

The girl and I fall down, laughing when the game is over because we had so much fun. Daddy appears behind me soon enough. "C'mon honey, we've got to go." He says. I sigh a little. "Can't we stay? I wanna play a little longer." I plead. Daddy shakes his head. "We have to do some things, don't you wanna have more fun with your daddy?" He asks. "Fine, alright." I say. "Well, bye." I say to the girl. She smiles. "Bye!"

She runs away, joining another girl who looks our age. I get a little sad, and daddy notices. "What's wrong, honey?" He asks. I shrug. "I don't know. I wanted to be her only friend? She said we were best friends, and she didn't even look sad about me leaving." I say. Daddy sighs, dropping to his knees so he's about my height. "Mindy, you didn't even know her an hour honey, she wasn't your best friend. Besides, you don't need friends, you're always gonna have me, Min. Ok?" He asks. I hug him, falling into his arms. "Ok."

Daddy's right. Who needs friends when I have him and Marcus? 

Daddy and I get home soon, dropping his empty water bottle in the sink and me pulling my sweaty pink sneakers off. I change into clean, dry, nice smelling clothes and come back downstairs.

Daddy smiles, taking a sip of something out of a mug, sighing, and putting it down. "So, did you have a nice run?" He asks. I smile. "It was fun!" I exclaim. Daddy laughs. "I guess you and Marcus don't work out a lot?" He asks. I shake my head. "He's busy a lot." I shrug. Daddy nods. "He always was the hardest working cop on the force." Daddy says."So how about we make this exercising a daily thing? That sound fun?" He asks. I nod, smiling. "It does." All of a sudden I feel myself frown in confusion. "Weren't you a cop, like Marcus?" I ask.

Daddy stops smiling. "Yes, I was." He says. I sit next to him at the kitchen table. He takes another sip of his hot chocolate. "Want some hot chocolate, Mindy?" He asks. "Yeah! I love hot chocolate!" I exclaim. "Can you tell me what it was like, being a cop?" I ask. Daddy gets up from his seat to pour me some hot chocolate, which is my favorite drink. "Well," he starts, "it was good and bad. Getting all of the bad guys was the really good part. Knowing that the streets were safer and that everyone that could hurt you or your mother was locked up forever was really satisfying. When I knew she was going to have you, I worked harder for both of you. I knew how terrible things could get, especially in New York City.

"It was dangerous, however, and there were some really ugly things out there, Mindy…"

Daddy looks very sad when he hands me my steaming mug of hot chocolate. I get sad, too. "Sorry daddy." I interrupt him. "I didn't mean to make you sad." I say. He shakes his head. "Don't worry about it Mindy. Why don't you go..recover from our run? You got pretty tired." He says. I nod. "Alright."

I go up to my room , sighing , and close the door. I didn't MEAN to make daddy sad, I just get so...so...I don't know. That's just me, I guess. I feel like a bad person all over again. I bury my face under my pillow. I need to stop making people so sad and mad. Daddy and Marcus would have never argued yesterday if it weren't for me. At least that's what it seemed like. Daddy wouldn't be sad now, if it weren't for me. Arghh...I feel so bad.

But I shouldn't right? I wish I could do something to make daddy feel better. I'll run faster tomorrow on our run, or run more laps. I'll do something, something to make things better.

But for now, I'm going to nap, to try and forget the day. That seems to be my escape from things, lately.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Routines

**(Mindy's POV)**

_**Two days later, at the same time...**_

I pull my sneakers off and sigh. "Are we going to go running _every day _daddy?" Daddy sighs. "Mindy, honey, I thought you said you liked running. And it's only the third day we've been going out running sugarplum." He says.

Daddy and I just got back from our run today. Two days ago, when we had first done this, I didn't know how tiring this could get! After I had gone to my bedroom and had that nap yesterday, I found out that daddy wants to make a "routine" out of this (from overhearing what he said to Marcus last night) because it will make me more "fit" and "active", "unlike most kids.".Daddy said that every day we should eat our breakfast, go out running, and when we get back, take a rest, eat lunch, rest. Then we work out all over again, this time practicing kickboxing (which I'm barely even learning, so it's not really practice...) and doing things that daddy says they'll make me do at school anyway (push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, [I've learned a whole bunch of 'em]). After that we eat dinner, do a short run around the block, and have some hot cocoa before I go to bed (which I'm not saying I don't like). When I go to bed, I'm pretty sure daddy leaves for a while- I always hear the front door slam and a car whizzing away after I'm supposed to be asleep, like at nine or ten. I just haven't been able to sleep, really.

There's a bunch of new nightmares that I've starting dreaming up. They don't really make sense to me, though. Things I've never even thought about are now scary to me, isn't that weird? The weird nightmares all have to do something with blood and bangs and _Pops!_. I know they sounds silly, and not really scary, but they just _do _scare me. Only bad people have guns that go _BANG! _and things that go _POP! _and make people bleed, and bad people scare me. It's bad people that made mommy go away to that place, that place where I can never see her unless something happens to me, too. It's bad people that put Marcus in a bad mood after a long day and that put daddy in jail. They're scary.

Anyway, I really love daddy, (of course), and I really like all the fun things I'm doing with him, but I just get so tired. This routine is leaving me exhausted! Still, I like it, and I'll do it no matter what. Even if it is tiring, it's fun, and daddy says it'll be getting me ready for school. I start in less than a year! That's a little scary, too. Other kids at my school might be mean like bad people, and what if they are? Marcus tells me not to worry about it, when he's home and whenever I talk about it. Daddy says nothing when I bring it up, just says, "We'll talk about your education later, honey."

Daddy settles down onto the sofa, saying, "How about you go rest for a little while, Mindy?" He asks. I shrug. "Can I stay down here with you and watch T.V.?" I ask. Daddy nods and smiles. "Sure, honey-bunny." He says. I snuggle into the fluffy, plush cushions of the sofa and glue my eyes to the T.V. We're watching something about a bad guy, I guess. He's walking around with a gun with this little kid, talking in a weird accent. I hear a LOT of bad words. I guess daddy doesn't really care that I watch it, even though I do.

"Daddy. What's this movie called? Why is this guy killing so many people?" I ask, my face twisting as a splash of blood flows from some guys ankle. _Eww, poor guy. _Daddy sighs and starts explaining, keeping his eyes on the T.V. "Well honey, this movie is called Terminator 2. This movie is about robots that are made to kill humans like you and I." Daddy explains. I nod, reaching for my juice on the coffee table. This movie sounds O.K., I guess. I just wonder why adults like these movies where there's so much...killing and bad things. I don't get it.

The movie goes on to a commercial break and daddy grasps toward the newspaper that is sitting on the table. I watch as he opens the paper and something in his face changes. He kind of looked happy before, but now...he looks...mad, sort of. I tap on daddy's shoulder, trying to get his attention. "Daddy, what's wrong?" I plead. He stays quiet for a while, but after some time, he finally breaks the silence. "Nothing, baby girl. Just...nothing." He grabs the remote from the table and presses the big red power button. He looks at me when he talks this time, so I know it's probably pretty important (whatever he has to say, I mean).

"Mindy. Sweetheart, I need you to listen to me, OK?" Daddy asks, his voice soft. I nod, a little scared. When adults talk to me like this, its either bad news, really great news, or something terrible. "Yeah Daddy?" I ask. Daddy shifts his glasses on his face and looks me in the eyes. "Honey, do you _know _what happened to your mommy?" Daddy asks.

"Marcus told me that mommy was sick because of bad people...something they did to her... and she did something that made her have to leave and go to another place where I can't ever see her again unless, I do that thing too. He told me the place was called heaven." I say. Daddy looks away from me. "That's what he told you..." Daddy mutters quietly. It almost seems like he's not talking to me at all. Daddy looks back over at me, a little sad-looking. "Mindy...nevermind. We'll talk about that later." He says.

"Ok." Is all I say.

_**A few hours later...**_

I flop onto my bed as daddy sets a steamy mug of hot cocoa on my bedside table. I'm tired, yeah, from another one of our workouts, but this time I had tons of fun. Daddy chuckles a little and sits on my bed next to me. "Tired, Min?" Daddy asks. "Yeah..." I mutter. Daddy pats me on the head soothingly. "It's alright, eventually your body will get used to working out as much. I take it you're not used to it yet?" He asks. _Nope, not at ALL. _"I"m fine." I tell daddy. "Just tired." I say. "At least you're not stuck up in your room playing with toys all day." Marcus laughs, appearing in the doorway. "You're home!" I exclaim.

Daddy laughs again, saying, "He's been home, sweetheart." Marcus nods, then looks at my daddy. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Damon?" My daddy stands up instantly. "Of course. We might want to let her get to bed anyway, right?" He says, giving me a final kiss on the forehead before walking out of my room with Marcus. I sigh and sip of my hot cocoa, burning my tounge a little and picking out the marshmellows instead. I hear soft chatter outside and flop back down onto my puffy, soft bed. _Adult talk again. I think they're talking about ME again._

Yesterday, I heard daddy and Marcus talking about me when they _thought _I was asleep. It was after daddy and I had gotten back from our run of the morning, and, as a surprise, Marcus had gotten off early from work...

_"Where'd you guys run off to?" Marcus asks. I pant more and more as daddy explains, "We were just out for a run, actually. We've been trying to make a routine (that word again!) out of this, really. You know, prepare Min for school, get both of us into shape, you know?" Marcus shakes his head. I trot off to the kitchen for a drink and have to hear Marcus sounding angry, talking to daddy about me._

_"She's too young for that kind of exercise, Damon! You know she's only five!" Marcus exclaims. I hear daddy sigh, and I wince a little. It sounds like they're fighting. That's not good. At ALL. "I'm just preparing her." Daddy explains. I hear more angry voices. "For what, the army? She's five, Damon. Take it easier on her."_

Ugh. I HATE HATE HATE arguing, especially between daddy and Marcus. It just BOTHERS me. We're supposed to be a happy family!

I sigh and shut my eyes. Whatever they might argue about this time, I don't want to hear it.

_**Meanwhile, downstairs...**_

"What's all this talk of 'good guys versus bad guys',and guns, and swearing I've been hearing from that little girl, Damon? What are you putting in her head?" Marcus asks, tones of annoyance in his voice. Damon sighs heavily, not looking Marcus directly in the eye, still ripping through the newspaper. "Damn it, Damon, would you listen to me?"

Damon tosses the newspaper down angrily. "She asked questions. I told her the truth. Since when is that a bad thing?" He shouts. Marcus furrows his brows in frustration, angry. "She has to know the truth about things, Marcus. If we don't tell her the truth now, she'll be shocked and angry with us later." Damon sighs as Marcus rolls his eyes. "So are we gonna teach her about sex and drugs tommorrow?" Marcus says sarcastically. Damon only sighs again. "I just want her to know the truth about the world, and about her mother, too."

Marcus only gets angrier. "She does not have to know about that." He grits out. Damon just picks up the newspaper again, giving up. "She'll find out sooner or later. She deserves a chance to know. She deserves a chance to...nevermind. That'll come later." He says. Marcus just sighs. "Whatever, Damon. I just want you to stay out of that girl's head, and get her off this "good guy, bad guy" bullshit."


End file.
